Erecting device for gyro verticals



March 23, 1943. 1 F. CARTER I -ERECTING DEVICE FOR GYRO-VERTICALS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 31, 1939 March 23, 1943. L. F. CARTER 2,314,343

ERECTING DEVICE FOR GYRO-VERTICALS I Filed-Aug.' 51, 1959 asheetS-sheet 2 INVENTOR leSZz 27. Creg retained Mar. 23, 194:.

andere v unearned nevica ron 'Grao vanfrrcaas Leslie F. Carter, Leonie., N. J., assigner to Sperry Gyroscope Company, Ino.,'Brook1yn, N'.. Y., a I

corporation of New York application 'sagra si, i939, sei-iai No. 292,846

i1 elaine. (ol. rif-5) This application relates to gyroscopic horizons or gyro verticals in which a gravity controlled restoring force, such as an air jet, is used to maintain the gyroscope in a true horizontal plane, the gyroscope being otherwise mounted in substantially neutral equilibrium. i

According to my present invention, I mount'on the gyroscope an auxiliary rotor device normally rotated on a vertical' spin axis at a much slower rate than the gyro rotor. This auxiliary device is made heavy on one side and is rotated by a relatively weak force, such as an air jet, so that if the gyro becomes inclined, the rate of rotation of the disc will decline as the heavy side thereof i is lifted. and accelerate again as the heavy side descends. On this rotor member or disc l also place a torque applying device or source or power such as an erecting jet, preferably spaced 90 from said heavy side. Although this jet is acting continuously, it has-no net eectias long as the' rotation of the disc is uniform, since the torque exerted on the gyro is equallydistributed and the rotation suicientlyrapid so that its effect in producing procession is negligible. 'Whom however, the gyro is inclined, said jet will .act for a greater time as the heavy side is being lifted, thus causing procession of the gyroscope. By

',placing' the jet about 90 ahead of the heavy side, the gyroscope will erect itself in a straight path. Preferably, I also employ a second jet or other torque applying power source opposite said heavy side tocancel or balance the reaction of said heavy sidek on the gyroscope so that theV heavy side of said disc has no unbalancing effect on the gyroscope.

Referring to the drawings, showing 'the preferred form of my invention,

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through an air driven gym-vertical taken on line l-l of Fig. 2.

`Fig. 2 is a, plan View thereof.

Fig. 3 is a'sectional detail taken on line 3-3 of lig.v 1 through one of the jets.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a modied form of the invention using air bearings for supporting the rotary mass.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-'5 of Fig. 4. looking down, the arrow showing the direction of rotation oi the gyro rotor. U

Fig. 6y is-a sectional detail of a modification of Figl 4. I

Fig. '7 is a section taken on line 'i-l of Fig. `6. The gym-vertical illustrated is of conventional form;A the j sensitive element comprising a. rotor bearing frame or casing i within which the rotor 2 is journaled for spinning about aY normally lvertical axis 3 3. The rotor is shown as air spun by means of jets il which implnge against buckets 5 out in the periphery of the rotor. The rotor bearing casing, in tur is mounted within a.gimbal ring t on horzontal trunnions l, 1, one or both of which are hollow to admit air from the hollow gimbalring through the Vtrunions and into the annular space t within the casing to lead the air to the spinning jets.

The girnbal ring, in turn, is htrunnioned on horizontal trunnions 9, 9 in supporting brackets it, l@ on or in an outer casing (not shown). Likewise, -one or both of said trunnions may be made hollow to admit air-into the hollow gimbal ring through the trunnions as from pipercon'- nection ii. Preferably, the gyrcscone is mounted in neutral equilibrium about both trunnions. Used air from the casing is shown as emerging through apertures l2. in the top thereof.

.oumaled on top oi the casing 1s shown a rotatably mounted unbalanced mass in the form of a disc i3 having a hollow hub i@ ,iournaied oni vertical shaft lli preferably coaxial with the spinaxs 3--3 of the rotor and extending upwardly y from the top of the casing i through anti-friction .bearings it. Said disc is made heavy at one side, i. e imbalanced, ,as indicated by the thickened portion il. To maintain `the neutral balance of the gyroscope, I employ an air jet ld through which a portion of the air from the casing escapes as it emerges from the annular channelv i9 underneath the disc, vsome escaping between the disc and the top of the gyra casing and a greater portion escaping through jet I8 and another jet 2li, hereinafter described.

Jet i8 is so located, directed and arranged that its-reaction normally balances the downward pull. of gravity on' the mass il, so that no torque is` Aexerted on the gyroscope by the mass. 'Zio this end, said `.iet maybe upwardly directed and located .dlainetrically opposite to mass l1. if the vgyroscope becomes inclined, the disc will no longer rotate at a uniform speed due to saidy unbalance, but will decelerate from the point where the unbalanced mass passes through the lowest position to the point where it passes' through its highest position and accelerate through the other In other words, the mass will be rotating at its slowest speed when near-the top of its inclined position and at its fastest speed whenat the bottom oi its inclined position. In order that the erecting torquemay be exerted at right angles to the tilt of, the gyro- V scope, I place the second jet 20 substantially-90 rotationallyl ahead of the mass I1,`as shown-'in Fig. 2. The substantially 90 spacing of the jets may be conveniently referred to as a quadrature relationship. This jet therefore exerts its torque on the gyroscope during its longest period when it is at right angles to the higher side of the gyroscope,-in other words, when the mass is near the top of its excursion. Preferably, one or both jets are slightly inclined to thevertical so as to impart a continuous slow rotation to the disc in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 or otherwise, as desired).

Another form of the invention is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. According to this form, the rotatlably mounted unbalanced mass which carries the reaction jet is mounted under instead of on top of the gyroscope, and also does not continuously rotate. In this form, said part is shown as comprising a spool-like portion 2| having upper and lower cups 22, 23 which cooperate with button 24 on the bottom of the gyro casing and a cooperating button 25 secured to a stem 26 extending downwardly from the gyro casing. By this means, upper and lower air bearings are provided for floating the spool about a vertical axis preferably coaxial with the spin axis of the rotor, air being supplied between the sphrical bearing surfaces through the hollow space surrounding stem 28. Said spool preferably carries three arms, 21, 29 and 39. The arm 30 is shown as carrying a mass 3| which corresponds in function to mass of Fig. 1. In this instance, the weight of the mass is normally balanced .by downwardly directed (i. e. under the mass) jet l2, Fig. 4, on the end of said arm, which Jet in this case is not inclined and does not rotate the spool. The arm 29 is at right angles to the arm 30 and carries the torque exerting jet 33 which, as viewed in Fig'. 5, is

directed away from the reader in a direction normal to the plane of the drawings. 'I'he arm 2l is merely for the purpose of balancing the weight of the arm 29. In this form of the invention it should be noted that the erecting jet 33 is placed on opposite sides of the mass'l as cornpared to the position of the jet 20 with respect tothe mass I1, assuming the same direction of spin of the gyro rotor.I This is because in' this form, where the mass 3| does not spin, it. will always come to rest on the low side of the gyroscope, in which position they erecting Jet should be 90 ahead of the mass i. e., with rela-l tion to the passage oi' a particular point on the gyro rotor as it moves past these parts, such a point iirst being adjacent arm 29 and 90 later in its rotation being adjacent arm 3|, so as to give proper erection; In the other form, however, the eilectiveposition of the mass is on the high side, since it is at that point that it is moving the slowest. On account of the extreme freedom provided by the air bearings, this form of the inventionis found to give an operation comparable in accuracy with the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Still an other form of the invention is shown in Figs. 6 and 7, illustrating a modification that might be effected upon the lower portion of the air borne spool of Fig. 4. According to this mo'dication, the unbalanced mass 4or spool is continuously rotated as in Fig. 1, by slightly inclining the jets 32 and 93'. In this case, however, the jet 33 is opposite the jet Il for the'reason explained above. y

When the spin axis ofthe gyro rotor is vertical or the instrument is normally positioned, the spool 2|, in this forni of the invention, is rotating at an even speed. Erecting jet 33' is moving around stem 26 in the same manner and consequently does not produce a constantly directed erecting force which disturbs the normal position of the instrument. Either jet 32''or jet 33' or both are inclined sufnciently to produce continuous rotation of the spool member 2| and the parts xed thereto.

I also preferably provide an annular trough 35 adapted" to contain oil, which is shown as secured to the lower'button 25'. Into said trough clips a paddle 36 secured to the bottom of the spool 2|. This is for the DurDOse of further retarding the rotation of the spool as the weightv air jet reaction. It may also be noted that in alll forms of the invention, while two separate jets are empioyed,one for exerting a torque which balances the normal gravitational pull on the unbalanced mass and the other for exerting a torque at right angles thereto, the net or combined ef'- fect of the two Jets is to exert a torque at some intermediate point between the jets which, if the jets were equal, would be at the 45 point.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. An erection device for g'yro-verticals comprising a gyro rotor bearing frame forming with its rotor the sensitive element of the gyro-vertical, means for universally supporting said bearing frame in neutral equilibrium, an unbalanced `rotatable member mounted on said frame to rotate on a normally vertical axis with its center of gravity to one side of said axis, an air jet directing port in said member by which the gravitational reaction on said frame cased by the unbalance of said member is'normally balanced. said member being operatively a'ected by the force of gravity upon inclination of the frame from a normal position, and a second air Jet directing port in said member, situated approximately in spaced relation thereon from the center of gravity of the member, by which a force is exerted on the inclined bearing frame to precess the same in a direction that restores the sensitive element to its normal position.

2. An erection device for gyro-verticals comprising a gyro rotor bearing frame forming with its rotor the sensitive element of the gyro-vertical, means for universally supporting said bearing framein neutral equilibrium, an unbalanced rotatable member mounted on said frame to rotate on a normally vertical axis with its center of gravity to one side of said axis, means for uniformly rotating said member at a relatively slow speed, 'an air jet directing port in said member by which the gravitational reaction on said of the reactive force obtained therefrom eiects I frame caused bythe unbalance of said member is normally balanced, said member being opera- .tively affected by the force of gravity upon inclination of the frame from a normal position,

and a second air -jet directing port in said men-v bearing frame being at a maximum as the center of gravityv of the 4gravity affected, irregularly such rotation, and a liquid damper is provided connecting said rotating member and said rotor bearing frame.

V'7. In combination, a gyro-vertical having a gyro rotor bearing frame mounted for freedom about mutually perpendicular normally horizontal axes, a gyro rotor in said frame mounted tol spin about a normally vertical axis, a rotatable member mounted on said frame situated in coaxial relation to the spin axis of the gyro rotor and including an unbalancing mass thereon, and

rotating, inclined unbalanced member passesy y through .its highest position, and being at a minimum as the center of gravity of said member passes through its lowest position.

3. A gyro-vertical as claimed ln claim 2, in which said means for uniformly rotating said member is provided by positioning at least one of said air jet directing ports so that one of the components of the reactive force obtained therefrom effects such rotation.

4; A gyro-vertical as claimed in claim 2, having an annular trough containing a liquid on the rotor bearing frame,`and a vane on said rotating member dipping therein to accentuate the retardation of said member upon inclination.

5. An erection device for gyro-verticalsJcomprising a gyro rotor bearing frame forming with its rotor the sensitive element of the gyro-vertical, means for universally supporting said bearing frame in neutral equilibrium, a rotatably mounted member situated on said frame having a normally vertical axis of rotation, an unbal anoing mass situated on said member, an air jet directing port in said member by which the gravitational reaction on said frame caused by the unbalancing mass is normally balanced, means for rotating said member, and a second air jetdirecting port in said member, situated in 90 spaced relation with `respect to said balancing' air jet directing port, by which a force is exerted, when the bearing frame is inclined, that restores the sensitive element ofthe gyro-verticall to a normal position.

6. A gyro-vertical as'claimed in claim 5, in

which the means for rotating vsaid member is provided by positioning at least one of said air jet directing ports vso that one of the components air jet directing means situated in said member by which the gravitational reaction on said frame caused by the unbalancing mass is normally balanced and a reactive erecting force is exerted about a horizontal axis of thevframe, which is eective when the frame is inclined from a nor' mal position, to restore the spin axis of the gyro rotor to a normal position.

8. The combination of elements, as claimed in claim 7, in which the air jet directing means in said member is positioned so that one of the components ofthe reactive force obtained therefrom is eifective to cause said member to normally rotate at a uniform speed.

9. The combination of elements, as claimed in claim 7, in which the air jet directing means in said member is` positioned so that no component of the reactive force obtained therefrom tends to cause said member to rotate, whereby upon inclination said mass seeks the low side of said frame.

10. The combination of elements, as claimed in claim v7, wherein the air jet directingmeans in said member isformed bytwo ports arranged in quadrature relation, one or both of said ports being positioned so that the reactive force obtained therefrom has a component which causes said member to rotate at a uniform speed.

11. The combination of elements, as claimed in claim 7, whereinthe air jet directing means in said member is'formed by two ports arranged in quadrature relation, one of said ports directing the jet by which the unbalanced mass is balf anced and the other of said ports directing the jet-by which the erecting force is applied.

nEsLiE F. CARTER. 

